CINCINNATI — A Democratic operative from Northern Kentucky deleted her Twitter account after receiving criticisms for a tweet during last weekend's Fancy Farm Picnic in western Kentucky.

Kathy Groob, who owns Democratic political consulting firm November Strategies in Covington, Ky., tweeted about the Asian ethnicity of Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell's wife, former U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao.

The tweet came in response to McConnell's comments Saturday at a Republican breakfast that Chao is the only Kentucky woman to serve in a president's cabinet, which she did under former President George W. Bush.

Groob tweeted: "Hey Mitch, nothing against your wife and spouses should be off limits; since you mentioned, She isn't from KY, she is Asian," according to a screen grab from Louisville television station WHAS-TV.

Groob later apologized for her choice of words on Twitter and deleted her account.

The Kentucky Democratic Party tweeted a statement denouncing Groob's comments: "These comments are abhorrent and have no place in Kentucky politics. We strongly denounce them."

"The fact that it's been two full days since those atrocious comments were made by one of Alison Lundergan Grimes' close supporters and we've still heard nothing from her campaign is truly unacceptable," Cooper said in the statement. "The KDP and the offending party herself have condemned the disgusting attack yet Alison Lundergan Grimes still refuses to speak up for anyone unless it benefits her politically."

Grimes' campaign spokeswoman Charly Norton said Grimes condemned the statement in a television interview on WHAS-TV on Saturday.

"Attacking someone's ethnicity is uncalled for and unacceptable," Norton said in the statement. "This race is between Mitch McConnell and Alison. As Sen. McConnell said last year, Alison wholeheartedly agrees that family should be out of bounds."